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Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

GEZONDHEIDSCERTIFICAAT

(veterinair certificaat) certificaatnummer: 

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Koninkrijk der Nederlanden Kingdom of the Netherlands Königreich der Niederlande Royaume des Pays-Bas Reino de los Países Bajos

Ministerie van Landbouw, 

Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit

Ministry of Agriculture, Nature 

and Food Quality

Ministerium für Landwirtschaft, Natur und 

Lebensmittelqualität

Ministère de l’ Agriculture, de 

la Nature et de la Qualité des

Aliments

Ministerio de Agricultura 

Naturaleza y Calidad 

Alimentaria

Nederlandse Voedsel- en 

Warenautoriteit

Netherlands Food and 

Consumer Product Safety 

Authority

Niederländische Behörde für 

Lebensmittel- und 

Produktsicherheit

Autorité néerlandaise de 

sécurité sanitaire de 

l'alimentation et des produits 

de consommation

Autoridad holandesa de la 

seguridad Alimentaria y de los 

Productos de consumo

Gezondheidscertificaat Health Certificate Gesundheitsbescheinigung Certificat Sanitaire Certificado Sanitario

VETERINARY CERTIFICATE FOR THE EXPORT OF OVINE AND CAPRINE SEMEN

FROM THE NETHERLANDS TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

I. IDENTIFICATION OF THE SEMEN

Product no. Name donor ram/buck Identification of donor Species Breed Date of birth

Batch no. Date(s) of semen collection Number of straws Straw identification

Seal number :

II. ORIGIN OF THE SEMEN

Product no. Approval no. of the semen collection center Name and address of the semen collection center

Name and address consignor :

III. DESTINATION OF THE SEMEN

Means of conveyance :

Identification of the means of 

conveyance

:

Name and address consignee :

IV. HEALTH INFORMATION

Section A (to be signed by the semen collection center veterinarian)

I, the undersigned center veterinarian of the described semen collection center, hereinafter ‘SCC,’ certify 

that:

1. The SCC where the donor(s) represented in this consignment was (were) collected are currently 

approved in accordance with Chapters I and II of Annex D of Council Directive 92/65/EEC;

2. The ovine or caprine semen donors, and any teaser animals, were established as residents of the 

SCC in accordance with Chapter II of Annex D, Council Directive 92/65/EEC, as amended (including 

any related applicable requirements under Council Directive 91/68/EEC); and in accordance with any 

additional U.S. import requirements as specified in this certificate;

3. During the period of semen collection involved, the SCC has continuously been under my 

supervision, or that of another veterinarian designated by the national government of the 

Netherlands; and whose information has been verified by me;

4. The premises where the semen is collected, and the flocks/herds of origin of the donors and all 

contact animals, are located in an area at least 50 kilometers from any known occurrence of FMD or 

rinderpest, and have remained within the area for at least 90 days prior to and 30 days following 

collection of the semen for export to the United States;

5. The donor and teaser animals have been part of the national flock/herd of the Netherlands for at 

least 60 days prior to collection of semen for export to the United States, and are not otherwise 

subject to movement restrictions or quarantines due to disease. If imported from any country 

considered by APHIS as affected with foot-and-mouth disease or rinderpest, the donor animals have 
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been part of the national flock/herd for at least 90 days prior to collection of semen for export to the 

United States, and are not otherwise subject to any movement restrictions or quarantines due to 

disease; The following certifications are made with respect to any sheep or goats resident in the 

SCC;

6. The following certifications are made with respect to any sheep or goats resident in the SCC:

a. The animals are permanently identified to enable traceback to their flock/herd of origin;

b. The animals have been isolated as a group, without further additions, for a period of at 

least 30 days prior to the first collection of semen for export to the United States (hereafter 

30-day pre-entry quarantine). During this time, there were no clinical signs of 

communicable diseases;

c. Immediately prior to the first collection of semen for export to the United States, the 

donors were inspected by the SCC veterinarian and found to be clinically free of contagious 

diseases;

d. There was no clinical evidence of infection of the animals by bluetongue virus during the 60 

days prior to and during the period of collection of semen for export to the United States;

7. Scrapie:

a. Insofar as can be determined after due inquiry, the dams or sires of the semen donors 

have never been affected with scrapie;

b. The animals have been kept since birth in flocks/herds in which no case of scrapie had been 

confirmed during their residency;

c. The animals showed no clinical signs of scrapie at the time of semen collection, or prior to 

the export of semen to the United States;

8. The following certifications are made with respect to bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis:

Either(1) The animals have been resident in the SCC for less than one year, and come from a 

flock/herd of origin that was tested negative for bovine tuberculosis(2) and brucellosis(3) on 

two occasions, at least 60 days apart. The first test was within one year prior to entry into 

the SCC; with the second test occurring during the 30-day pre-entry quarantine period 

before their admission into the SCC; and no clinical, microbiological, or serological evidence 

of these diseases was found during the 24 months prior to export of the semen to the 

United States;

Or(1) The animals have been resident in the SCC for more than one year, and were tested 

negative for bovine tuberculosis(2) and brucellosis(3) during annual herd tests at the SCC;

9. The animals are certified as stipulated below, or were tested using the following technical criteria for 

other specific tests

a. Schmallenberg virus: the semen for export to the United States was:

Either(1) Collected prior to June 1, 2011;

Or(1) The semen in the consignment was collected after June 1, 2011 from donors 

that were negative to two serum neutralization tests (using a 1:16 cutoff titer) 

for Schmallenberg virus, with the first performed within 30 days prior to 

collection, and the second between 28 and 60 days after collection. Tests were 

performed in a laboratory approved by the National Competent Authority;

b. Bluetongue virus: the donor animal was:

Either(1) Kept in a BTV free country or zone, as recognized by USDA APHIS, since birth or 

for at least 60 days prior to shipment to the United States;

Or(1) Tested negative by an ELISA test for the BTV group on blood serum during the 

pre-entry quarantine period, and at least every 60 days after, with one test 

occurring 21-60 days after semen collection;

Or(1) Tested with a whole blood PCR test for BTV group with one negative test at the 

beginning and conclusion of the collection period, and at least every 28 days 

during the period of semen collection;

Or(1) Tested with a whole-blood virus isolation test for BTV group with one negative 

test at the beginning and conclusion of the collection period, and at least every 7 

days during the period of semen collection;

c. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD):

Either(1) The animals originate from the Netherlands where no cases of EHD have been 

reported within the previous 12 months, and where no serological evidence of 

EHD infection exists;

Or(1) The following serotypes of EHD exist: ....................... and animals were tested on 

two occasions by an agar gel immunodiffusion test (AGID); OR by competitive 

enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA) AND by either a whole-blood 

PCR test or a virus neutralization test (VNT) for all the above-listed serotypes of 

EHD, with negative results using blood samples taken prior to, and not less than 

21 days following collection of the semen (the two samples may not be taken 

more than 12 months apart).

COLLECTION AND PROCESSING CERTIFICATIONS(4)
certificaatnummer: 

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10. The SCC veterinarian supervised the collection and processing of the semen for shipment to the 

United States;

11. Semen collection equipment which came into contact with rams or bucks or their secretions and 

excretions was thoroughly disinfected after each use, and good laboratory practices were followed 

during collection and processing of semen in order to minimize the possible introduction of microbial 

contamination;

12. The semen was packaged in ampules or straws which are permanently marked with the name, 

breed, and individual identification number of the donor and the date of collection;

13. Any antibiotics that were added to each ml of the semen and semen extender were limited to 100 μg 

of tylosin, 500 μg of gentamicin, or 300/600 μg of linco-spectin (lincomycin and spectinomycin), as 

diluted by 0.02 ml of double-distilled sterile water;

14. Ruminant products used in commercial semen extenders in the Netherlands were sourced from 

countries considered by USDA to be free from foot-and mouth disease and rinderpest as listed in 9 

CFR Part 94 and other official publications;

15. No biological products other than frozen semen or embryos qualified for shipment to the United 

States were present in the containers prior to use for export of semen to the United States;

16. The shipping tank is new or has been cleaned and sanitized, and only fresh liquid nitrogen has been 

used to charge the tank;

17. After processing, the ampules/straws of ovine or caprine semen to be exported to the United States 

were segregated in locked containers at a storage facility (or facilities) designated by the national 

government of the Netherlands; and were maintained under supervision until such time as the 

ampules/straws were placed in the shipping tank and sealed under official veterinary supervision.

Gedaan te / Done at / Ausgefertigt in / Fait à / Hecho en 

Op / On / Am / Le / El 

Name and qualification of the center veterinarian

Signature and stamp of the center veterinarian

Section B ( to be signed by the official veterinarian after the center veterinarian has signed)

I, the undersigned official veterinarian of the Netherlands certify that:

1. The semen collection center, hereinafter “SCC”, was approved by the competent authority of the 

Netherlands and has no outstanding violations under the provisions of Council Directive 92/65/EEC;

2. The center veterinarian that completed Section A of this certificate is authorized by the national 

veterinary service of the Netherlands to perform this service;

3. The center veterinarian is not subject to any past or current disciplinary actions that would result in 

ineligibility to certify the health of the animals at the SCC, and meets all other applicable 

requirements of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 or of the competent authority, as applicable;

4. The donor animals for the semen to be exported to the United States have been part of the national 

flock/herd of the Netherlands and are free from any movement or quarantine restrictions, according 

to point A1. to A17. above;

5. Any tests required under Section A. above for ovine or caprine semen exported to the United States 

were performed by testing methods recognized by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) 

Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals, as acceptable for international 

trade;

6. The laboratory tests mentioned in point A8. to point A9. were carried out with negative results in a 

laboratory approved by the competent veterinary services;

7. The Netherlands is free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), rinderpest, contagious caprine 

pleuropneumonia and Rift Valley Fever;

8. In the Netherlands:

a. Scrapie is a compulsorily notifiable disease and an effective surveillance and monitoring 

system for scrapie is in place.

b. Sheep and goats affected with scrapie are maintained under quarantine in a manner that 

will prevent disease spread until the animal is no longer living and the remains have been 

disposed of in a way that prevents disease spread;

c. The feeding of sheep and goats with meat-and-bone meal or greaves derived from 

ruminants has been banned and the ban is effectively enforced in the whole region for the 

entire life of the animal; and the donors have not been in any other country/region with a 

less restrictive feeding policy prior to the collection of semen for export;

9. Ruminant products used in commercial semen extenders in the Netherlands were sourced from 

countries considered by USDA to be free from foot-and mouth disease and rinderpest as listed in 9 
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Gedaan te / Done at / Ausgefertigt in / Fait à / Hecho en 

Op / On / Am / Le / El 

Handtekening officiële dierenarts / Signature of the official veterinarian / 

Unterschrift des amtlichen Tierarztes / Signature du vétérinaire officiel / 

Firma veterinario oficial

Naam in hoofdletters / Name in capital letters / Name in Grossbuchstaben / 

Nom en lettres capitales / Nombre en letras capitales 

The signature and the stamp must be in a different color from that of the printed text.

CFR Part 94 and other official publications;

10. The semen to be exported to the United States was maintained under lock and key or in the custody 

of the SCC veterinarian, and segregated from other semen of lesser health status, until it was placed 

in the shipping container and sealed with official seals of the Netherlands;

11. None of the semen for export to the USA has been stored or transported in containers with semen 

produced under less than equivalent animal health conditions;

12. The entire shipment exported under this certificate (including semen that might have been collected 

in more than one approved semen collection center by the same SCC veterinarian) has been 

maintained under continuous oversight of the official veterinarian until the conveyance is scheduled 

to depart for the United States;

13. The shipping containers were sealed with an approved seal from the competent authority of the 

Netherlands, and the seal number(s) is (are) recorded in point I;

14. The semen is routed directly to the United States from the Netherlands with no stops en route other 

than those provided on the USDA import permit.

Note:

(1) Delete as appropriate.

(2) Animals must be individually tested negative for bovine TB by an intradermal TB test using purified protein 

derivative Mycobacterium bovis tuberculin. A negative test means no detectable response using both visual and 

manual palpation when read 72 hours following injection with intradermal tuberculin.

(3) For brucellosis, the following tests are acceptable:

Brucella abortus/melitensis:

The FPA (a negative result is considered anything less than 20 millipolar above the negative control value);

Or The complement fixation test (Note: ewes that have been vaccinated with Brucella abortus S19 vaccine 

between 3 and 6 months of age are considered negative if the sera have no fixation reaction up to a titer of 

30 ICFTU/ml when the animals are tested at an age of 18 months or older);

Or The buffered plate antigen agglutination test (read for agglutination immediately after the 8-minute period 

is completed; a negative result is the absence of any visible reaction.

Brucella ovis (in the case of sheep): acceptable tests include either:

The enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), (using the International Standard standards for antiBrucella ovis S serum referenced in the OIE Terrestrial Manual);

Or The complement fixation test, (Sera with no fixation reaction for a titer less than50 ICFTU/ml are considered 

to be negative).

(4) Semen collected in an EU Member State at different approved locations that are under the supervision of the 

same SCC veterinarian may be qualified for exportation to the United States and included in a single shipment, 

provided that the SCC veterinarian can certify the integrity of the total shipment under relevant sections above, 

and that none of the semen was transported in a container with semen which was collected under less than 

equivalent health standards. This information must be provided to the Official Veterinarian for semen collected by 

the same SCC Veterinarian at each different SCC.